No, not her enemy. Though she’d accepted the war between their countries and the family feud that had defined the Qadirs and Haddads for generations, she had felt no personal hatred for him, nor his parents. The fact their countries had been at war until recently wasn’t enough of a reason to ignore her instincts and her desires.
But for Amir, their history was so much worse. Where she had no personal wrong to resent him for, he’d lost his parents because of her uncle’s malicious cruelty. His hatred for her family was understandable. But did he have to include her in that?
What
did she want? The question kept circling around and around and around her mind, with no answer in sight. After several minutes, they reached a wide-set doorway, thrown open to the desert evening. He stood, waiting for her to move through it first, his manners innate and old-fashioned.
She stepped into the cool night air as Amir spoke to the servants. ‘We are not to be followed.’
There was a pause and then a deferential nod of agreement. Johara turned away, amused to imagine what they must think—their Sheikh going out of the palace with a Qadir? Did they suspect Johara, all five and a half feet of her, posed a threat to the man?
Her lips curved in a smile at the notion, a smile that still hovered on her lips when he joined her. ‘Care to share the joke?’
‘I was just thinking how suspicious your guards looked,’ she murmured, nudging him with her elbow, so his eyes fell to hers. Heat passed between them.
‘You are from Taquul,’ he said simply.
She ignored the implication. ‘As though I might have a three-foot scabbard buried in here somewhere.’ She ran her hands over her hips, shaking her head at the preposterous idea.
‘I take it you don’t?’
Her laugh was soft. ‘You’re welcome to check, Amir.’
As soon as she said the words she wished she could unsay them. She lifted a hand to her lips and stopped walking, staring at him with eyes that offered a silent apology. ‘I didn’t mean for you to...’
But he stared at her with a look that was impossible to read, his breath audible in the stillness of the night.
‘It wasn’t an invitation?’
Her heart was beating way too fast. How could it continue at that pace?
‘We agreed that night was a mistake,’ she reminded him.
‘No, I said it was a mistake. You said it felt right.’
Her lips parted at the reminder. ‘Yes, I did say that.’
He turned to look back to the palace. They’d moved down the steps and into a garden fragrant with night-flowering jasmine and citrus blossoms, out of sight of the guards. But he turned, moving them further, into an area overgrown with trees. It was unlike the maze in Taquul. Where that was all manicured and enchanting for its formal shape—like a perfect outdoor room—this was more akin to something from a fairy tale. Ancient trees with trunks as wide as six of Amir’s chests grew gnarled and knotted towards a sky she knew to be there only because it must be there, not because she could see it. The foliage of each tree formed a thick canopy, creating an atmosphere of darkness. Were it not for Amir’s hand, which he extended to take hers, she might have lost her footing and fallen. But he guided her expertly, leading her along a narrow path as if by memory. Deeper in the forest, the beautiful fragrance grew thicker and here there was a mesmerising birdcall, like a bell and a whip, falling at once. She paused to listen to it.
‘The juniya.’ He said the word as most people said her name, with a soft inflection on the ‘j’, so it was more like ‘sh’.
‘Juniya,’ she repeated, listening as at least two of them began to sing back and forth.
‘They’re native to this forest. In our most ancient texts they are spoken of, depicted in some of the first scrolls of the land. But they exist only here, in the trees that surround the palace.’
‘I can’t believe how verdant the land is here.’ She shook her head. ‘It’s like the foot of the mountains.’
‘That’s where the water comes from.’
‘The moat around the palace?’
‘And in my private hall,’ he agreed, reminding her of the little stream that flowed through that magical place he’d taken her to when first she’d arrived at the palace—had that only been earlier on this same day? ‘There’s an underground cavern that reaches the whole way; the river travels through it. In ancient times, it was used to send spies into Taquul,’ he said with a tight smile she could just make out. They continued to walk once more, and eventually the canopy grew less apparent, light from the stars and moon reaching them, so she could see his face more clearly.
‘But not any more?’
‘It’s more closely guarded on the other side.’ He laughed. ‘And our own guards do the same,’ he added, perhaps wondering if she might take the information back to her brother, to use it as a tactical strength against him. The thought brought a soft sigh to her lips.
‘Even now in peace?’ she prompted him.